In July 2005, the Rev. Harry Bury, a 76-year-old professor of organizational behavior and systems management at Baldwin-Wallace College, was invited to be a “peace observer” with a group of other priests and nuns as Israeli soldiers withdrew Jewish settlers — and themselves — from Gaza. “Research shows that when international people are there, the belligerents tend not to shoot each other,” Bury explains. “I didn’t have the expectation that I was going to put myself in immense danger.” Unfortunately, he was wrong.

After 18 days, 66 flight hours, 900 gallons of gasoline and 7,488 miles, Don Sieg and his wife and navigator, Jan, flew over one-third of the planet in their 1968 Cessna propeller airplane. They landed at Alaska’s northernmost point: Barrow, called the Top of the World. Sieg, 53, gives us his perspective from 13,000 feet.

On Aug. 12, Travis Hafner hit his sixth grand slam of the season at Jacobs Field off Kansas City Royals pitcher Luke Hudson, tying the Major League record that Don Mattingly has held since 1987. It was in the bottom of the first inning, with the Indians rallying to eventually score 11 runs in one inning.

In 1976, Chagrin Falls native Ted Batchelor set himself on fire and jumped off the falls into the Chagrin River on a bet, beginning a decade-long tradition. A stuntman, he set a Guinness World Record for longest full-body burn with no supplied oxygen in 2004. In May, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his first jump with a stunt that raised $6,000 for the Valley Arts Center.

What does it feel like to wear the crown of a pageant queen? Celebrate a championship victory?
Be abducted by foreign gunmen? Or reach into a grizzly bear’s mouth to perform a root canal?
Most of us may never know. So 14 Clevelanders share their real stories of joy, pain, suffering and triumph.

In 1999, Dr. Jerri Nielsen, who grew up in Salem, Ohio, and worked as a staff ER physician at University Hospitals, was the only doctor among 41 men and women on a scientific expedition researching astrophysics, climatology and weather at the South Pole. In March, after the last plane left, she found a lump in her breast. Her experience became a book, “Ice Bound,” and a TV movie by the same name.

The Cleveland Browns hadn’t been to a championship game since their 59-14 drubbing by the Detroit Lions in 1957. Not much more was expected in 1964, when the Browns faced Johnny Unitas and the 12-2 Baltimore Colts. But after a scoreless first half, the Browns struck first with a Lou Groza 42-yard field goal. On the next possession, Jim Brown scampered 46 yards to set up the first of three Frank Ryan-to-Gary Collins TD passes. Brown had 114 yards rushing in the 27-0 victory.

After the tragedy of her husband’s suicide, Alenka Banco devoted herself to thetransformation of a former Catholic church into the 22,000-square-foot Josaphat Arts Hall complex, a haven for Cleveland artists and their work. Along the way, everything changed.

An innovative Cleveland Restoration Society program has illuminated 11 of the city’s sacred landmarks, highlighting the beauty of the steeples, bell towers and domes, while creating beacons for our neighborhoods.

Health Care Guide - Be Better in '07Lori Valyko WeberTired of guilt-driven resolutions that never produce lasting results? Want some sane, practical and balanced advice? We talked to doctors, coaches and educators about how you can improve your nutrition, exercise habits, relationships, work/life balance and brainpower, whether you’re a dabbling novice or a self-improvement veteran.